


Hello?

by thegodmachine



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Online Dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-02 22:56:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6586087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegodmachine/pseuds/thegodmachine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud finds himself on a blind date only to find out that that Zax wasn’t a girl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hello?

**Author's Note:**

> A long time ago, I use to see people spell Zack's name as Zax. I decided to go that route with this story considering the plot.

Cloud checked his phone for the third time that day. He was very nervous. He was in a part of town he was unfamiliar with and tonight, as in any minute, would be the first time he would meet Zax face to face. He wasn’t shallow. He didn’t care what she looked like and he had always had an admiration for all types of women, it was just, well, he was worried what _she_ would think of him.

He wasn’t anything spectacular and, for whatever reason, he had a hard time keeping a girl interested him. He had been told many-a-time that he was boring or awkward. His coworker at 7th Heaven, roommate, and all-around best friend, Tifa, said he was just shy and needed to be pushed out from his comfort zone. She told him she would pass his number on to her single friends, which he hated at first but as time passed nothing came from it. At most, a few of her college friends had thought he was cute from her Instagram posts. Tifa told him that one of her friends would find him desirable, but Cloud didn’t have the heart to tell her he was thankful otherwise. Dating was stressful and he knew who ever reached out to him would eventually find him undesirable. He didn’t want anyone connected to Tifa to find him lacking.

It was only a month later, after nothing coming of Tifa spreading his phone number around that he was lying on his bed playing Tetris on his phone when a text message lit up his screen.

.

 **Unknown Number:** Hey

 **Cloud:** Hello???

 **Unknown Number:** Tifa gave me your number

 **Cloud:** Oh boy. I promise I’m not that pathetic :/

 **Unknown Number:** No shame. I responded, after all. I think you’re cute

 **Cloud:** Have we met?

 **Unknown Number:** No. My name’s Zax, btw.

.

Zax.

What a perfect name. Zax was actually perfect in every way. They talked every night. Cloud didn’t have the nerve to ask her for a picture so he instead resorted to stalking Tifa’s instagram and facebook but he never yielded any results. He actually worried that Zax might not be real. Maybe Tifa and her friends were pulling a prank on him.

.

_“Tifa?” He asked one day. They were both working but were currently on a lunch break._

_“Wha?” She said, her voice muffled by her sandwich. He made a face at her. Tifa could be so gross sometimes. He did not need to see what was inside her mouth._

_“So, someone began texting me.”_

_“Really?” She asked and took another bite of her sandwich._

_“She says she got my number from you,” He explained. He leaned forward and watched as the realization dawned on her._

_“Told you one of my friends would find you cute. So who is it? Which friend of my mind is actually that crazy?” She asked with a teasing smirk. He felt his heart swell with confidence. She seemed genuine in her curiosity so he could take comfort this wasn’t a joke._

_“Zax?”_

_“Zax…?” She stumbled. “You’re talking to Zax? Really?”_

_“Yeah, Zax is awesome,” He said and fought a small smile off his face. The confirmation that a person out there genuinely liked him was nerve-wracking. “We talk about video games, cars, sports…everything really.”_

_“Heh, that’s great,” Tifa never took the smile or the surprised look off her face. “I’m so happy for you. C’mere.” She pulled him towards her into a hug._

_._

He never understood what was up with Tifa that day or why she seemed so happy, but any time he would mention Zax, she would just smile widely at him and say they would be a cute couple. With her encouragement, Cloud finally found the courage to take their relationship a step further.

.

 **Cloud:** We should meet

 **Zax:** :) Definitely

.

And that was that. Zax told him to come to a popular café on the other side of town, and Cloud was dropped off by Tifa. He was now seated by the window of the cafe, feeling awkward and desperate. He kept looking out the window to see if he recognized anyone from Tifa’s photos but they were all strangers. After ten minutes, he slumped over his phone and wondered if he had been stood up. Maybe she took one look at him and ran away. (His self-esteem was too poor to take into consideration that Zax already knew what he looked like from online.)

He jumped when he saw someone sit down at his table out of the corner of his eye.

“Sorry I’m late,” the person said.

Cloud raised his head with surprise at the deep voice. He looked at the man sitting across from him in surprise and confusion.

“Cloud?” The man said.

“Who are you?” Cloud asked.

The guy gave him a surprised face and then gave a soft, self-deprecating laugh.

“Oh shit,” He mumbled. “Fuck. Well, I’m Zax. I guess you were expecting someone else?”

Cloud felt his jaw drop. “But Zax is a girl…”

“Nope, Zax is not,” He said with an awkward apologetic half-smile.

Now Cloud suddenly remembered Tifa’s reaction when he asked her about his phone-buddy, and she had seemed so surprised. Tifa thought he was attracted to a guy. Tifa thought he was gay?

“Was this a joke the whole time?” He asked softly.

Zax shook his head. “No. I can’t believe I fucked this up.”

.

And that was how they first met.

.

Truthfully, Cloud almost left and he felt like he had the right too. He couldn’t understand how he was able to go so long without figuring out that Zax was a guy. While feeling righteously upset, somehow his butt never left his seat. Zax seemed to take that as a sign and began to talk to him about himself as if they were meeting each other for the first time (phone or otherwise).

  1. Zax had known Tifa since her freshmen year of college. He was a couple years older than Cloud and Tifa, and a TA in one of her classes…
  2. Tifa had shared his phone number at a get together and everyone had jokingly insisted that Zax take his number though he initially had no interest at contacting Cloud.
  3. Zax has two younger brothers. One is Cloud’s age and went to his school. The other is still in middle school. The middle brother claimed to know him and that was how Zax finally saw a picture of him.
  4. Zax thought he was cute.



…Uh?

At that point, Cloud kind of broke his resolution. Zax thought he was cute?

Zax also bought him dinner. Cloud realized that he was actually on a date with Zax. He looked around the room and wondered what people thought at seeing them. Were they hiding looks of disgust? No one was even paying attention to them.

He gave Zax a shy smile suddenly feeling like this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

.

“So how did it go?” Tifa asked when Zax dropped him off at home. She must have been watching from the window. “You sat in the car for half an hour.”

“Stop spying on me,” He said.

“Ugh, I’ll just call Zax,” She said and turned back to the TV.

Cloud just shrugged at her and ran to his room. He pulled out his phone and fiddled with it for a few moments. He reread his texts to Tifa and realized Tifa never said or hinted that Zax was a girl, Cloud had just assumed.

.

 **Cloud:** Hey

 **Zax:** Hey

 **Cloud:** Tonight was fun.

 **Zax:** :)

 **Zax:** We should do it again

.

Cloud paused and wondered what he should do. He could hear Tifa moving around in her bedroom and while he didn’t want her to have another opening into his private life, he knew there was only one answer to give.

.

 **Cloud:** Yeah, totally


End file.
